- Updated: February 3, 2026
- 4 min read
Kilobyte Redefined: Why 1000 Bytes Is Gaining Ground Over 1024
In a recent deep‑dive, the debate over the definition of a kilobyte—whether it should be 1000 bytes or the traditional 1024 bytes—has been revisited. Home→Articles→1 kilobyte is precisely 1000 bytes 1 kilobyte is precisely 1000 bytes Published on 11/01/2026 Updated on 15/01/2026 #opinion When it comes to computer memory, we usually learn that a kilobyte is 1024 bytes, a megabyte is 1024 kilobytes, and so on. But what if I told you that it’s not necessarily true and 1 kilobyte can be 1000 bytes? And what’s more, this makes even more sense. Table of contentsWhy do we often say 1 kilobyte = 1024 bytes?Why does 1000 still make more sense?What are the standard units?ConclusionWhy do we often say 1 kilobyte = 1024 bytes? Since computers work in a binary system (base 2), the memory is also addressed in binary. This means it’s quite impractical to use memory addresses or produce RAM sticks with memory amounts that are not multiples of powers of 2. From the powers of 2 we chose 1024 (210) as the base order of magnitude, since it’s very close to 1000 (2.4% difference) and it’s not insanely large.So, in practice we often consider kilo as 1024 (210), mega as 1048576 (220), giga as 1073741824 (230), etc. Why does 1000 still make more sense? While binary kilo, mega and giga units are close to their decimal counterparts, some might already notice that the larger are the units, the more is the proportional inaccuracy. In order to illustrate, let’s increase the units: Unit Decimal value Binary value Relative difference Kilo 1000 1024 2.4% Mega 1000000 1048576 ≈ 4.8% Giga 1000000000 1073741824 ≈ 7.3% Tera 1000000000000 1099511627776 ≈ 10% Peta 1015 ~ 1.126 * 1015 ≈ 12.6% Exa 1018 ~ 1.153 * 1018 ≈ 15.3% Zetta 1021 ~ 1.181 * 1021 ≈ 18.1% Yotta 1024 ~ 1.209 * 1024 ≈ 20.9% Ronna 1027 ~ 1.238 * 1027 ≈ 23.8% Quetta 1030 ~ 1.268 * 1030 ≈ 26.8% For 1 quettabyte the inaccuracy is already larger than a quarter. Even for 1 terabyte the difference is noticeable, around 10%.This problem often happens when hardware manufacturers (such as HDD or SSD) advertise the memory capacity in decimal units while the operating system might show in binary units. Missing 70 gigabytes For smaller amounts of memory the binary representation is pretty close to the decimal one, but diverges for huge amounts of memory. What are the standard units? This “kilobyte = 1024 bytes” rule is actually an old (often confusing) convention.In the tech industry there is still huge inertia, this old convention is still used by RAM manufacturers (JEDEC), tons of software and some operating systems (such as Windows). Interestingly, storage vendors often prefer the decimal convention, which creates even more confusion (mentioned above).In order to solve this confusion, International Electrotechnical Commission introduced binary prefixes for binary units: Binary units (International Electrotechnical Commission) Decimal units (International System of Units) Unit Value Unit Value KiB (kibibyte) 10241 kB (kilobyte) 10001 MiB (mebibyte) 10242 MB (megabyte) 10002 GiB (gibibyte) 10243 GB (gigabyte) 10003 TiB (tebibyte) 10244 TB (terabyte) 10004 PiB (pebibyte) 10245 PB (petabyte) 10005 EiB (exbibyte) 10246 EB (exabyte) 10006 ZiB (zebibyte) 10247 ZB (zettabyte) 10007 YiB (yobibyte) 10248 YB (yottabyte) 10008 RiB (robibyte) 10249 RB (ronnabyte) 10009 QiB (quebibyte) 102410 QB (quettabyte) 100010 The guidance is: SI prefixes are powers of 10 only, and if you mean powers of 2 you should use IEC binary prefixes (Ki, Mi, Gi, …). Conclusion There is still a lot of inertia to equate 1 kilobyte to 1024 bytes. While this is usually acceptable depending on the context, it can sometimes cause confusion, especially for non-technical people. Upcoming JavaScript features in 2026 Moltbook – the craziest AI experiment in 2026 Prefer repeating selectors over !important keyword in CSS The future of Stack Overflow Read previous Read next Load Disqus comments Disqus uses cookies, please check Privacy & cookies before loading the comments. Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus. ⬆UP This site uses cookies for some services. By clicking Accept, you agree to their use. To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Privacy & cookies.Accept Reject [{“Unit”:”Mega”,”Decimal value”:”1000000″,”Binary value”:”1048576″,”Relative difference”:”≈ 4.8%”},{“Unit”:”Giga”,”Decimal value”:”1000000000″,”Binary value”:”1073741824″,”Relative difference”:”≈ 7.3%”},{“Unit”:”Tera”,”Decimal value”:”1000000000000″,”Binary value”:”1099511627776″,”Relative difference”:”≈ 10%”},{“Unit”:”Peta”,”Decimal value”:”1015″,”Binary value”:”~ 1.126 * 1015″,”Relative difference”:”≈ 12.6%”},{“Unit”:”Exa”,”Decimal value”:”1018″,”Binary value”:”~ 1.153 * 1018″,”Relative difference”:”≈ 15.3%”},{“Unit”:”Zetta”,”Decimal value”:”1021″,”Binary value”:”~ 1.181 * 1021″,”Relative difference”:”≈ 18.1%”},{“Unit”:”Yotta”,”Decimal value”:”1024″,”Binary value”:”~ 1.209 * 1024″,”Relative difference”:”≈ 20.9%”},{“Unit”:”Ronna”,”Decimal value”:”1027″,”Binary value”:”~ 1.238 * 1027″,”Relative difference”:”≈ 23.8%”},{“Unit”:”Quetta”,”Decimal value”:”1030″,”Binary value”:”~ 1.268 * 1030″,”Relative difference”:”≈ 26.8%”}]
Read the full original article here.
For more insights on data measurement standards, visit our Data Standards page or explore the Ubos Tech Blog.
Andrii Bidochko
CTO UBOS
Andrii Bidochko is an AI entrepreneur and researcher focused on AI agents, reinforcement learning, and autonomous systems. He writes about the technologies shaping the future of machine intelligence, from frontier models and agent architectures to real-world AI applications.